Edmonton officials say abandoned vehicles plaguing city streets is down about 73 per cent since the reopening of an overflow tow lot. The city says the number of vehicles awaiting a tow has dropped from a peak of 682 to 181 since June 17, when extra spots became available at the 122 Street and 124 Street location. That lot was previously being used as a construction laydown site for the Yellowhead Trail Freeway Conversion project. Before that, it was an Edmonton Transit Park and Ride. Aggrieved neighbours had previously brought the issue to the city as backlogs contributed to cars left on the sides of streets for days, if not weeks. “We’ve heard a lot of frustrations from residents in regards to abandoned vehicles,” city parking enforcement superintendent Alan Le told reporters on Wednesday. “For the summer months, we’re hoping to wind it down to hopefully, zero” A vehicle is considered legally abandoned if left on public property for more than 72 consecutive hours. City crews are working with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) to ticket owners and ultimately move 10 to 15 vehicles to the lot each day. “For the past 20 days, the work and the co-operation between the EPS team, the City of Edmonton bylaw, the city construction’s Yellowhead team has just been tremendous,” added EPS business operations executive director, Cindy Kieu. Kieu says that, for 30 years, the lot has been a temporary overflow site the city provides to police to address towing and impound processes. “We have the same allotted space as we did in 1997 as we do now. Given the pressures, we’ve been able to work with the city to have temporary relief.” EPS says it will continue to work with the city to find a permanent solution.
